Pettibone strong in MLB debut as Phils edge Pirates

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia starter Jonathan Pettibone made an impression in his big-league debut and put the Phillies in position to earn a victory.

The 22-year-old Pettibone combined with four relievers on a strong pitching effort Monday night, with Jimmy Rollins providing the tie-breaking single in the sixth inning as the Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2.

Rollins' two-out single off reliever Jared Hughes (1-2) snapped a 2-2 tie. It made a winner of Raul Valdes (1-0), who pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief of Pettibone.

Antonio Bastardo and Mike Adams followed with one scoreless inning apiece, and Jonathan Papelbon pitched around Garrett Jones' one-out double in the ninth to record his fourth save.

Pettibone, recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley after John Lannan went on the disabled list last week, worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed five hits and two runs on homers by Pedro Alvarez and Russell Martin. Pettibone, who struck out six and didn't walk a batter, threw 83 pitches, 51 of them for strikes.

"For being a young guy and the first time pitching in the big leagues, I thought he did pretty good," Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel said. "He made some good pitches at times. Early, they hit some balls hard on them, but he got them out when he had to, too."

"He wasn't a young man going out there hoping to do well," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "He went out there to do well."

Pitching on a brisk 50-degree night and before a crowd that included his family -- notably his dad, Jay, who pitched in the Minnesota chain under Manuel and made four major league starts in 1983 for the Twins -- Pettibone said he was nervous at first.

"Once I settled down, I got in a nice little rhythm and went from there," he said. "I kind of wanted to be aggressive. I wanted them to put the ball in play and let my defense do the work."

His strikeout total was, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the most by a Phils starter in his debut since Cole Hamels struck out seven Cincinnati Reds on May 12, 2006.

With two outs in the sixth, Erik Kratz drew a walk from Hughes. Pinch hitter Ezequiel Carrera followed with an infield single, and after Rollins lined the first pitch from Hughes just foul down the right-field line, he roped a single into right.

A.J. Burnett started for Pittsburgh and worked five innings, allowing five hits and two runs. He struck out seven and walked three and had runners on base in every inning but the first.

"He was Houdini," Hurdle said.

Pettibone escaped the first inning despite yielding a leadoff double to Starling Marte. John Mayberry Jr. made a diving catch in right field of a liner off the bat of Jones for the third out.

After Alvarez lined a one-out homer into the right-field seats in the second, the Phillies' defense bailed out the young pitcher, as left fielder Domonic Brown threw out Martin at second base when he attempted to stretch a single into a double.

The Phillies drew even in the third when Burnett wild-pitched a run home, and then they took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, when with the bases loaded and two outs, Burnett hit Jimmy Rollins with a 2-2 pitch to force in a run.

Martin knotted the game again, at 2-2, with a leadoff homer in the fifth.

NOTES: The Phillies' Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a fourth-inning infield single. ... The Phillies began the night leading the majors with three pinch-hit homers, and were tied for the lead with 10 pinch-hit RBIs. ... Pirates' relievers Tony Watson and Justin Wilson entered the game having allowed five earned runs in their first 21 innings of work this year.